Gallatin National Forest

Arbor Day Partnership

Arbor Day Partnership

The Gallatin National Forest founded a partnership with the National Arbor Day Foundation some years ago. The Forest receives donations from the National Arbor Day Foundation annually as a lump sum, not as individual donations. We keep a registry in our front office (Bozeman Ranger District, Bozeman, MT) of all the contributors, which is provided by Arbor Day.

The donations are used only for the direct costs of planting trees, either to purchase seedlings from a nursery or to pay for the labor costs of planting of the seedlings. We generally try to plant about 200,000 trees each year, mostly in areas that burned in recent wildfires. In 2006, over 250,000 acres burned on the Gallatin National Forest; in 2007, about 50,000 acres burned. We will be planting in these areas for several years to come. The objectives of these reforestation efforts include species diversity, watershed protection, and expediting the growth of hiding cover for wildlife.

It is not possible to designate specific trees on the planting sites for each of the many individuals nationally who have had contributions made for trees to be planted in memory or in celebration of life events. For those interested in visiting the areas reforested with Arbor Day Partnership contributions, please contact us at (406) 522-2520 and we can provide maps to direct you to the areas recently planted.

Additional information can be found at http://www.arborday.org/replanting/